Patient Care Device Integration with a Hospital Bed

1. A patient bed comprising a frame configured to support a patient, a first barrier coupled to the frame and configured to inhibit patient egress from the frame, a second barrier coupled to the frame and configured to inhibit patient egress from the frame, a catheter monitor coupled to the first barrier, a patient care device coupled to the second barrier, and bed control circuitry carried by the frame and configured to control at least one function of the patient bed, the catheter monitor having first circuitry in communication with the bed control circuitry and the patient care device having second circuitry in communication with the bed control circuitry.

2. The patient bed of claim 1 , wherein the first barrier has a first cavity in which at least a portion of the catheter monitor is received.

3. The patient bed of claim 2 , wherein the second barrier has a second cavity in which at least a portion of the patient care device is received.

4. The patient bed of claim 1 , wherein the first barrier comprises a first siderail and the second barrier comprises a second siderail.

5. The patient bed of claim 1 , wherein the first barrier comprises a siderail and the second barrier comprises a footboard.

6. The patient bed of claim 1 , wherein the patient care device comprises a compression device.

7. The patient bed of claim 1 , wherein the patient care device comprises a pulse oximeter.

8. The patient bed of claim 1 , wherein the patient care device comprises a vital signs monitor.

9. The patient bed of claim 8 , wherein the vital signs monitor comprises one or more of the following: a heart rate monitor, a respiration rate monitor, or a blood pressure monitor.

10. The patient bed of claim 1 , further comprising a third barrier coupled to the frame and a second patient care device coupled to the third barrier and having third circuitry in communication with the bed control circuitry.

11. The patient bed of claim 1 , further comprising at least one graphical user interface (GUI) coupled to the bed control circuitry, the GUI being operable to display bed information pertaining to the at least one function of the patient bed, to display monitor information pertaining to at least one function of the catheter monitor, and to display device information pertaining to at least one function of the patient care device.

12. The patient bed of claim 1 , wherein the bed control circuitry is configured to communicate to a network of a healthcare facility bed information pertaining to the at least one function of the patient bed, monitor information pertaining to at least one function of the catheter monitor, and device information pertaining to at least one function of the patient care device.

13. The patient bed of claim 1 , wherein the bed control circuitry is configured to communicate to a network of a healthcare facility bed identification (ID) data, catheter monitor identification (ID) data, and patient care device identification (ID) data.

14. The patient bed of claim 13 , wherein the bed control circuitry is configured to communicate to the network of the healthcare facility patient identification (ID) data.

15. A patient support apparatus comprising a patient support structure to support a patient, control circuitry to control at least one function of the patient support structure, the control circuitry being operable to implement a falls prevention protocol, and a patient care device coupled to the patient support structure, the control circuitry implementing the falls prevention protocol in response to a signal from the patient care device indicating at least one of the following: the patient care device being turned on or a tube being attached to the patient care device.

16. The patient support apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the falls prevention protocol comprises an alert being generated to indicate at least one or more of the following: that casters of the patient support apparatus are not braked or that at least one siderail of the patient support apparatus is not in a raised position or that an upper frame of the patient support apparatus is not in a lowered position relative to a base frame of the patient support apparatus.

17. The patient support apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the falls prevention protocol comprises an alert being generated if a patient position monitoring system of the patient support apparatus indicates that the patient has exited the patient support apparatus or has moved toward exiting the patient support apparatus by a threshold amount.

18. The patient support apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the control circuitry sends a nurse call signal to at least one remote nurse call system computer device in response to a violation of the falls prevention protocol.

19. The patient support apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the control circuitry sends data to at least one remote computer device of an electronic medical records system pertaining to operation of the patient care device or implementation of the falls prevention protocol or both.

20. The patient support apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the control circuitry sends data to at least one computer device that signals an electronic room sign to display information pertaining to the falls prevention protocol.